'Special boy' Brooklyn will live on, vows heartbroken mother

Limerick schoolboy Brooklyn Colbert, who was murdered by his uncle four years ago, died from massive blood loss after being beaten with a hammer and stabbed more than 20 times, his inquest heard

Sonia Aylmer, mother of Brooklyn Colbert, at Coroners Court in Kilmallock, Co Limerick. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

The heartbroken mother of murdered Limerick schoolboy Brooklyn Colbert said at his inquest on Wednesday that her "special boy" had left a legacy of kindness despite his short life.

Brooklyn, who was murdered by his uncle four years ago, died from massive blood loss after being beaten with a hammer and stabbed more than 20 times, his inquest heard.

Coroner John McNamara said the autopsy report of Dr Margot Bolster was "not for the faint-hearted" adding only a summarised version of the report would be read before the court. 

Sonia Aylmer, Brooklyn’s mother, told the coroner she would remain in the courtroom to listen.

In her deposition, Ms Aylmer said having looked back prior to the murder, she believed Paddy Dillon, her step-brother, had developed an “obsession” with her only son.

She said Dillon would refer to Brooklyn as “my king” and she remembered he was “always hugging” Brooklyn.

“I think he wanted to kill Brooklyn and then himself so that they could both be together in heaven,” Ms Aylmer wrote.

'Unlawful killing' verdict

The jury at Limerick Coroner’s Court sitting in Kilmallock found Brooklyn Colbert, 11, with an address at Aherlow Close, Caherdavin, died by “unlawful killing”.

The boy’s uncle, Paddy Dillon, of Moyross, Limerick, who was 26 at the time, struck his  nephew across the head with a hammer and stabbed him 27 times in a frenzied attack at Dillon’s aunt’s home at Ballynanty Beg, Limerick, on November 3, 2019.

The autopsy, carried out by State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster, revealed Brooklyn had tried to defend himself during the attack and that his death would have been “very rapid”.

Brooklyn Colbert: The State Pathologist found his death was due to 'haemorrhage, bleeding and shock, due to multiple stab wounds'. Picture courtesy of Sonia Aylmer.

Brooklyn sustained “blunt force trauma from a blow” to his head, and the “depressed fracture of his skull was in keeping with a blow of a hammer”.

Dr Bolster said Brooklyn also suffered “lacerations to the back of the scalp in keeping with a further blow” of the hammer.

The sports-mad 11-year-old also sustained “sharp force trauma” from “twenty-seven stab wounds”.

Brooklyn also sustained at least one “slash wound to the middle of his left elbow joint”, which Dr Bolster said was “in keeping with a defence wound”.

Dr Bolster found death was due to “haemorrhage, bleeding and shock, due to multiple stab wounds”.

“He couldn't have survived at all,” she said.

Day of murder

On the day of the murder, a neighbour said she had spoken to Dillon and Brooklyn, who were both in happy form, smiling and laughing together.

The woman said her last sighting of the close pair was of them walking together into Dillon’s aunt’s house where, unbeknownst to anyone, Dillon was about to set on the unsuspecting boy with a hammer and knife.

After killing his nephew, Dillon walked to a Garda station and immediately confessed to the murder.

Wayne Colbert and Sonya Aylmer unveiling a portrait of their son Brooklyn Colbert at Delmege Park, Moyross. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Dillon pleaded guilty before the Central Criminal Court in 2021 and was sentenced to the mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Coroner John McNamara and Garda Inspector Gary Thompson, of Bruff Garda Station, offered their sympathies and condolences to members of the boy’s family, including his heartbroken mother Sonia Aylmer.

Mr McNamara told the family: “I know you have been through a lot already and no one here wants to compound your grief or your grieving process”.

Detective Inspector James Ruddle, of Roxboro Road Garda Station, who was the first emergency responder on the scene, told the inquest that when he approached the front door of No 11 Shanabooley Road, Ballynanty Beg, he could see blood on the inside of the door’s glass panelling.

Gardaí forced open the front door, and Detective Insp Ruddle found Brooklyn’s lifeless body “on the kitchen floor which was covered in blood”.

“Brooklyn Colbert was lying on his stomach, his eyes were closed, he was not breathing, there was no sign of life.” Det Insp Ruddle said he also observed “a hammer with blood on the handle lying close to [Brooklyn’s] head”.

Brooklyn’s father Wayne Colbert, wrote in his deposition which was read out on his behalf by gardaí, that he “identified the body of my lovely boy” at the morgue at University Hospital Limerick later that night.

Speaking after the inquest, Brooklyn’s mother, Sonia Aylmer, said it had been “a very hard day” but it had helped bring her some “closure”.

She thanked people “for keeping Brooklyn’s memory alive”.

“He will live on forever, his legacy will live on, I will make sure of that.”